Trademark retrieval is important for procedures of application for trademark registration, trademark examination, trademark management, and right protection of trademark and so on. The retrieval purpose is realized substantively by manually inputting a trademark figurative element code as a retrieval condition in a traditional figurative trademark retrieval. The trademark figurative element code is a dividing tool for trademark figurative element generated based on the Vienna Agreement for Establishing an International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks, which is consisted of a list of trademark figurative elements classified by major categories, subcategories, and groups, including a number of the trademark figurative element and a name of the trademark figurative element. Therefore, each of the trademark figurative element codes represents the content and meaning of the trademark figurative element.
Nowadays, the trademark figurative element codes are divided manually, which is generally undertaken by minority examiners with professional level of trademark figurative element codes in the national trademark management institution in the world, basically without intelligentized tools or means. Although division task of the trademark figurative element codes can be performed based on the present manual division method for the trademark figurative element codes, there are obvious defects and drawbacks, mainly reflecting in the following.
1) Low working efficiency of division and huge consumption of working energy is obvious to the manual division of the trademark figurative element codes.
2) Strong professionality is required for the division of the trademark figurative element codes, and common staffs cannot easily to exactly master the method for the trademark figurative element codes, which restricting the widely use of the figurative trademark retrieval.
3) Even the trademark figurative element codes are divided by professionals, there are differences existing in the meaning of the trademark figure determined subjectively by different professionals, which would results to inconformity of the trademark figurative element codes.